>I just had about the scare of a lifetime: Illura was inside a pair of
>pants crumpled up on the floor, I wasn't looking and (you can see where
>this is going) I stepped right on her.
 
Rachel,
 
I'm so glad to hear, and I know how relieved you are, that Illura is OK!
I had the same horrible experience - twice!  - with my oldest and dearest
ferret, Clover (dearest only because she was the first, I love them all
the same!).
 
A while back, I was rushing to grab another ferret who had just figured out
how to open a door to a "forbidden" place (the base of my aquarium stand),
and I didn't notice a very slight bump in a throw-rug.  As I felt something
under the front of my foot, I instantly knew there was a ferret underneath,
and I pulled my foot back.  Luckily it wasn't the heel of my foot!  As
conditioned as I am to never step on a bump in a rug, or anything lying on
the floor, it was one of those horrible moments where I was rushing, my
attention was focused on keeping the other ferret out of harm's way, it was
dark in the room, and everything conspired to make me careless enough to
step on my baby.  Clover got a rude awakening from her nap, but fortunately
nothing worse!
 
The other incident happened a some time ago.  I was coming down the stairs,
and just as I stepped from the last stair to the floor, Clover came flying
down the stairs behind me - right under my foot!  I heard her bell behind
me, but it all happened so fast I didn't have time to register where she
was or react.  My foot landed right on her head, hard enough to pop her
collar off.  Poor girl!  She rolled over but didn't make a noise or
register any pain, she just got up and kept running.  I was so afraid I'd
broken something, I went after her, picked her up and checked her all
over, but was so relieved that she seemed to be fine.  I had this horrible
thought that I could have snapped her little neck, and I would never
forgive myself if I did something to hurt any of my babies!
 
Speaking of belled collars, they have prevented a close call or disaster
more times than I can count; I wouldn't let my ferrets out without them.
Of course they don't alert you to the whereabouts of a sleeping ferret, but
a bell lets you know when a ferret is underfoot, and many times I might
have taken step back onto one of my ferrets who had wandered into the
kitchen for a treat, if not for the bell letting me know me my little guy
was behind me.  Or when I am going out the door, or into a "forbidden zone"
or closing the dishwasher or refrigerator - a little bell has prevented my
ferrets from getting into each of these dangerous situations, among others.
I know some people don't like collars because they are afraid a ferret
could get caught, but the nylon collar with the plastic snap that I've
always used just slips off when it gets stuck.  I keep a little ID tag on
each collar so, in case a ferret escapes, the collar w/ ID tag lets people
know 1) that the animal is a pet, and 2) who he/she belongs to.  I hope
this doesn't trigger a debate about the pros & cons of collars, it is
simply my personal opinion based on my own experience.
 
Nancy and critters
[Posted in FML issue 3453]